The learnings I garnered during my internship at Daikin -By Suraj Kumar from IIEST

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Born and brought up in a family of mechanical engineers, my love for mechanical engineering comes naturally. When I had an ever-rising desire to work with big core companies, I also developed my interest in the field of data analytics in my penultimate year of college. And I am glad that this internship opportunity By DAIPL (Daikin Air-conditioning India Pvt. Ltd.) allowed me to combine the knowledge of both fields.

The selection process

DAIKIN is the world’s no.1 Air-conditioning company covering its operations over 150 countries. This is the ultimate dream company for any HVAC enthusiast. After qualifying for the online assessment, I was invited for a group discussion and the topic was related to students’ politics in India. 

After its completion, they called the first name from their shortlisted students’ list which turned out to be mine. I was very nervous but it helped me in a certain way. During PI, I was first tested for my knowledge of HVAC and then about my personal experiences and my thoughts on managing a team. The final few minutes checked on how well I am suitable for the company’s culture and ethics. It was a wonderful interview experience as I got to know more about myself too. Being honest really helps in the long run.

My virtual training experience

After my selection in February, I was excited to visit Daikin factories 1 and 2 in Neemrana, Rajasthan which are the most advanced AC manufacturing plants in India. In March, when the country-wide lockdown was announced due to the rising cases of Covid-19, the company decided to postpone the internship period to July. 

The company always kept us informed about their plans and I never felt scared to miss this opportunity as DAIPL really stood out in those conditions then. That time when almost every company began to defer the internship and job offers, Daikin promised us a wonderful virtual training experience via online platforms.

The internship consisted of 150 hours of virtual training which may sound overwhelming to many. This internship at Daikin was one of my greatest experiences as a mechanical engineer. The virtual internship program spanned for over 4.5 months and the first phase was that of virtual training. In the initial days, all interns were introduced and it was great to know that all 70 students in this program came from different communities and demographics of India. 

Every week, we interacted with some new industry leaders who were pioneers in their respective fields. They helped me gain an in-depth knowledge of the different fields of HVAC with real-life problems and their personal life experiences. To help gain industry-level knowledge in every field, I was introduced to every aspect of manufacturing and market strategies. Be it quality, manufacturing, R&D, or service, the instructors just never hesitated to answer my queries. The sessions were supplemented with evaluation tests at the end and training modules were provided at the end of each session. The whole training process was filled with little fun activities too like photo-clicking, writing, speaking, which motivated me to express myself in the best way possible. 

Seven Groups of ten students each were formed as teams to prepare a business presentation at the end of the training. All my team members were very fun-loving and easy to talk to. I can say that I have made some wonderful friends from this team. As we laughed hard in our conversations, we also worked hard to prepare the most wonderful presentation on the company’s business. 

I drastically improved upon my PowerPoint skills just before starting my work on the presentation due to which I helped create the presentation from the design and editing end. The jury members appreciated our team effort very much. That day marked the end of my virtual training and hence this concluded the first phase of my virtual internship program at Daikin.

The virtual project

As I entered the second phase of my internship at Daikin in November, I was allotted a mentor who turned out to be one from the company’s placement recruiting team that visited my college and who also took my interview. I was very pleased to have him as my mentor as he answered every query and helped me improve my project in the best possible way. 

I worked on the project with one of my previous team members. We analyzed the real sales data set provided by the company to gain insights to improve the sales of the VRV Home product series in the eastern parts of India. I used my analytical skills to draw insights from the given data set. 

This project was a good opportunity for me to practice my data visualization skills using Python and Tableau. After studying the company’s sales data, we interacted with the product dealers in the region also. It was a great learning experience as I discussed various market strategies gained from the sales data analysis. I was working towards developing the product more desirable to the customers which enhanced my analytics as well as business skills altogether.

My overall internship experience at Daikin

I never expected this opportunity to be such a wonderful experience and only because of the company’s genuine efforts, I will cherish this experience forever. After 4.5 months of everything, I cannot believe so much has happened throughout the whole internship program. Also, all the interns from this year are promised a visit to the Neemrana factories just after this pandemic settles down in the country. This promise is a sign of how well a company can carry out faith and culture within its organization.

I hope I covered all my experiences from this internship program. And, to all the sophomore and penultimate students, I would like to say, keep upskilling yourselves and promote teamwork as you will see how a team can help you turn into a better person in general which is really important in life as well. Good luck!

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